2005 Record: 77-85, 2nd in NL West
So much was made of the turnover the Marlins went through this winter and very little was said about what went on in Arizona. Sure, the roster on the field didn’t go through as much upheaval as Florida’s and the D-backs will have more veterans in their lineup this season than the Fish. But make no mistake: There’s a youth movement afoot in the desert and a brand new front office leading the way.
Exit Jerry Colangelo and Junior Garagiola; enter Jeff Moorad, Josh Byrnes and Peter Woodfork. People no doubt recognize Moorad’s name from his work as a player agent. Byrnes and Woodfork are not known by many, but they come over with plenty of experience in the Red Sox front office. While they team is likely to languish near or at the bottom of the NL West for at least a year, I fully expect this team to be back at full steam soon and be a force in what is a weak, maybe the weakest, division.
The pitching rotation this year will feature Brandon Webb followed by veterans Russ Ortiz, Orlando Hernandez and Miguel Batista. Not a bad foursome, but the medical charts say it won’t hold up for the long haul. I really like Webb, and expect better things from Batista now that he’s back in Arizona following the closer’s experiment that failed miserably in Toronto. But I’ll be shocked beyond belief if Hernandez and Ortiz combine for more than 50 starts between them. Heck, 35-40 starts is probably where the over-under line should start. Claudio Vargas and Brad Halsey have the inside track on the #5 job, but look for young Dustin Nippert to get the call at some point.
The bullpen will find Jose Valverde as the closer, but with his health concerns you really have to ask yourself, “For how long?” If Valverde fails in one way or another, there are several young arms manager Bob Melvin could turn to. Unfortunately, they also have spotted pasts on the injury front. Brandon Lyon was the closer early last season before his right elbow flared up. Ditto for the talented Greg Aquino and his elbow. Brian Bruney has remained healthy, but has control trouble. If he straightens that out, he might be the best of the bunch. Look for Luis Vizcaino and Brandon Medders to be effective in middle relief or setup roles. Vets Terry Mulholland, Felix Heredia and Buddy Groom will compete for lefty relief slots.
While the development of young pitching will determine the eventual fate of the Snakes, there’s no doubt they have an incredibly talented group of position players ready to deliver this club once again to the eventual Promised Land. The infield will open this year with young Conor Jackson sharing 1B time with veteran Tony Clark. Jackson is a solid .300-20 HR candidate eventually, though sharing time with Clark this year could hold him in the 10-12 HR range. Orlando Hudson, over from Toronto in the Troy Glaus deal, will be the second sacker. He has an outstanding glove and range, but needs to up his offense if he wants to be in the lineup 140+ times.
The left side of the infield will have Craig Counsel at short and Chad Tracy at third. Counsell is one of those guys that doesn’t seem to have much talent, isn’t big, doesn’t play any single position with high regard and yet still grinds it out and is a winner. He does have a slight shoulder problem right now, so watch for that as spring training and the season progresses. With both Stephen Drew and Justin Upton now behind him in the system, Counsell can be quickly replaced if he is hurt or should the club find somewhere to deal him. Tracy really blossomed last year, especially in the HR column where he exploded for 27. That might turn out to be a career-high for the former Pirate of East Carolina U. He is a legit .300 hitter, and could one day win a batting title. But look for his power numbers to drop a little into the 18-22 range for his norm.
Infield backups include the fore mentioned Clark, along with Andy Green (last year’s PCL Player of the Year), Damion Easley and maybe the younger Drew.
Veterans Luis Gonzalez and Shawn Green will occupy the outfield corners with Eric “Balls to the Wall” Byrnes in center. Gonzalez is one of the preseason picks to be traded this July when contenders start looking for that one extra bat. Green could also be sought after in such a deal. Check out ESPN’s Web Gems each night for a possible Byrnes sighting. Assuming he doesn’t hurt himself with his style of play, Byrnes could finally get into 140+ games. He’s really just stop-gap until Chris Young arrives, possibly as early as this September. Young has great power-speed combination.
Jeff DaVanon will start the year as the #4 outfielder, with Scott Hairston and Luis Terrero fighting for the last OF slot. Keep an ear to the wire for news on young Carlos Quentin as well.
Johnny Estrada and Chris Snyder figure to platoon behind the plate with Estrada getting about a 110-50 edge in game time. Koyie Hill could push Snyder aside with a good showing this spring. All of them are biding time until youngster Miguel Montero arrives for good, and he could get a chance to do that beginning in 2007.
There’s some excellent talent on the horizon for the Diamondbacks, and I fully expect they will begin to make noise in the NL West starting next season. But look for some growing pains, as well as veteran pains, especially from the pitching staff, in 2006.
Key Performer(s): Valverde, or someone else, will need to close out every lead Arizona has just to give the club a shot at .500 this year.
Camp Question(s): The battle for the back of the rotation is between Vargas, Halsey and Nippert. Whoever doesn’t win a job in spring will eventually be called up when Ortiz and/or Hernandez go on the DL.
My Play: My numbers added up to 76 wins this season, and that falls right in line with Pinnacle at this time listing them o73 (-114). If a couple of the veteran arms don’t make it out of Spring Training, bet the under.
So much was made of the turnover the Marlins went through this winter and very little was said about what went on in Arizona. Sure, the roster on the field didn’t go through as much upheaval as Florida’s and the D-backs will have more veterans in their lineup this season than the Fish. But make no mistake: There’s a youth movement afoot in the desert and a brand new front office leading the way.
Exit Jerry Colangelo and Junior Garagiola; enter Jeff Moorad, Josh Byrnes and Peter Woodfork. People no doubt recognize Moorad’s name from his work as a player agent. Byrnes and Woodfork are not known by many, but they come over with plenty of experience in the Red Sox front office. While they team is likely to languish near or at the bottom of the NL West for at least a year, I fully expect this team to be back at full steam soon and be a force in what is a weak, maybe the weakest, division.
The pitching rotation this year will feature Brandon Webb followed by veterans Russ Ortiz, Orlando Hernandez and Miguel Batista. Not a bad foursome, but the medical charts say it won’t hold up for the long haul. I really like Webb, and expect better things from Batista now that he’s back in Arizona following the closer’s experiment that failed miserably in Toronto. But I’ll be shocked beyond belief if Hernandez and Ortiz combine for more than 50 starts between them. Heck, 35-40 starts is probably where the over-under line should start. Claudio Vargas and Brad Halsey have the inside track on the #5 job, but look for young Dustin Nippert to get the call at some point.
The bullpen will find Jose Valverde as the closer, but with his health concerns you really have to ask yourself, “For how long?” If Valverde fails in one way or another, there are several young arms manager Bob Melvin could turn to. Unfortunately, they also have spotted pasts on the injury front. Brandon Lyon was the closer early last season before his right elbow flared up. Ditto for the talented Greg Aquino and his elbow. Brian Bruney has remained healthy, but has control trouble. If he straightens that out, he might be the best of the bunch. Look for Luis Vizcaino and Brandon Medders to be effective in middle relief or setup roles. Vets Terry Mulholland, Felix Heredia and Buddy Groom will compete for lefty relief slots.
While the development of young pitching will determine the eventual fate of the Snakes, there’s no doubt they have an incredibly talented group of position players ready to deliver this club once again to the eventual Promised Land. The infield will open this year with young Conor Jackson sharing 1B time with veteran Tony Clark. Jackson is a solid .300-20 HR candidate eventually, though sharing time with Clark this year could hold him in the 10-12 HR range. Orlando Hudson, over from Toronto in the Troy Glaus deal, will be the second sacker. He has an outstanding glove and range, but needs to up his offense if he wants to be in the lineup 140+ times.
The left side of the infield will have Craig Counsel at short and Chad Tracy at third. Counsell is one of those guys that doesn’t seem to have much talent, isn’t big, doesn’t play any single position with high regard and yet still grinds it out and is a winner. He does have a slight shoulder problem right now, so watch for that as spring training and the season progresses. With both Stephen Drew and Justin Upton now behind him in the system, Counsell can be quickly replaced if he is hurt or should the club find somewhere to deal him. Tracy really blossomed last year, especially in the HR column where he exploded for 27. That might turn out to be a career-high for the former Pirate of East Carolina U. He is a legit .300 hitter, and could one day win a batting title. But look for his power numbers to drop a little into the 18-22 range for his norm.
Infield backups include the fore mentioned Clark, along with Andy Green (last year’s PCL Player of the Year), Damion Easley and maybe the younger Drew.
Veterans Luis Gonzalez and Shawn Green will occupy the outfield corners with Eric “Balls to the Wall” Byrnes in center. Gonzalez is one of the preseason picks to be traded this July when contenders start looking for that one extra bat. Green could also be sought after in such a deal. Check out ESPN’s Web Gems each night for a possible Byrnes sighting. Assuming he doesn’t hurt himself with his style of play, Byrnes could finally get into 140+ games. He’s really just stop-gap until Chris Young arrives, possibly as early as this September. Young has great power-speed combination.
Jeff DaVanon will start the year as the #4 outfielder, with Scott Hairston and Luis Terrero fighting for the last OF slot. Keep an ear to the wire for news on young Carlos Quentin as well.
Johnny Estrada and Chris Snyder figure to platoon behind the plate with Estrada getting about a 110-50 edge in game time. Koyie Hill could push Snyder aside with a good showing this spring. All of them are biding time until youngster Miguel Montero arrives for good, and he could get a chance to do that beginning in 2007.
There’s some excellent talent on the horizon for the Diamondbacks, and I fully expect they will begin to make noise in the NL West starting next season. But look for some growing pains, as well as veteran pains, especially from the pitching staff, in 2006.
Key Performer(s): Valverde, or someone else, will need to close out every lead Arizona has just to give the club a shot at .500 this year.
Camp Question(s): The battle for the back of the rotation is between Vargas, Halsey and Nippert. Whoever doesn’t win a job in spring will eventually be called up when Ortiz and/or Hernandez go on the DL.
My Play: My numbers added up to 76 wins this season, and that falls right in line with Pinnacle at this time listing them o73 (-114). If a couple of the veteran arms don’t make it out of Spring Training, bet the under.
